Story: A Meeting of Minds
This is a story about the first contact between the Zyrothans and Raptor sapiens on Yeseg and the beginning of the Raptor-Zyrothan War. Chapter 1 Iur, Zyrothan aerospace commander, watched the anomalous bleep as it grew stronger and stronger. They'd heard about this kind of event before, but had never imagined it could occur on Yeseg. Anything could come through, a perfect virus or an army of hellish Daemons like those from their mythology. The area was under quarantine, and surrounded by tanks as well as artillery. Spaceships hung low above it. Large metal walls, ten kilometres across and high, had been placed in a cube around the site. Some wildlife was trapped underneath, probably some Aragtora too. Iur smiled- whoever came through, they would not enjoy their first encounters. Chapter 2 Sriss Beta walked through the rift in excitement. Probes had detected large animals on the planet. "Come on Gammas," he called to his men, "We're coming to a brave new world here. Look sharp." Their expectations were fufilled when a large predator came bounding towards them. Sriss smiled. Once it came with feet of him, he lept twelve feet behind it, and aimed a hand-held device at it. A jolt of electricity burst out, and knocked the animal down with ease. Sriss checked its pulse; it was still alive, just unconscious. "Talis! Take this back through and present it to the Alpha Emperor. Tell him that we greet him from the planet Sriss 4." Talis nodded, and dragged the heavy animal back through the rift. Sriss had greatly enjoyed this first encounter, and wished for another. And so they continued. It didn't take long before they came to a steel wall, around ten kilometers high. Sriss sighed. "Kerine!", he called, "Go back through and fetch some artillery. We'll get through this soon." Chapter 3 "Commander! Internal sensors detect life signs. They're moving in a systematic way around the structure, it's safe to say they're sapient." Iur clenched his fist. "They've got a minute to get off my land. To get off my planet! Get all artillery and vehicles in position. Evacuate nearby cities. Prepare orbital weapons." All around the cube, vehicles parked up. Jets circled overhead, and infantry set up fortified positions. A speaker inside the cube activated. It sent out an enormous sound in the most universal of languages: "GRAAAAWRRRRRR!!!" Chapter 4 At this moment, the Raptors fired an enormous projectile at the wall. There was a huge explosion and crashing sound; and then, the walls came crumbling down. The moment they stepped outside, however, several hundred alien sapients stood around them, pointing some kind of metal tubes at them. "Careful men," he said, "We don't know a thing about these creatures..." At that moment, a dozen of the aliens gathered around them, attempting to press them in some sort of vehicle. Kerine tried to resist, snapping the head off of one of the aliens. However, another alien pointed its metal tube at it, and pulled some form of trigger. A loud bang issued out from it, and Kerine fell down dead. Although the others continued to resist and were killed, Sriss quietly stepped into the alien vehicle, sending a signal back through the rift. It read as such: I have been captured. Send reinforcements. Destroy hostiles." Chapter 5 "Why on Yeseg did you bother capturing them? Just kill the *******!" Yelled Iur. "Fire artillery, clear the Rift zone!" He glanced at the captured Raptor. "Kill it." Zyrothans moved into position around the Rift. There was an enormous explosion, and now surrounding it was a blackened plain, a mile in diameter. Infantry moved into their shelters, and tanks moved up. The artillery were prepared for a barrage. Raptors began to emerge from the glimmering portal. Guns opened fire, crackles and bursts of light and thunder. The oncoming aliens fell dead, but there were more. Missiles streaked down into the Zyrothan lines, fired from the epicentre. "They have ordnance weapons, sir!" "I realised," Iur growled. "Bomb the *******s." Chapter 6 As the battle continued, Sriss moved farther away from the sight. As chaos broke loose on the battlefield, it had been easy for him to slip away. He came to an alien city. It was dark, and not a one of them seemed to be out. The city must have been evacuated. Sriss smiled. They would never suspect he was in there. If the Zyrothans won, he could hide out in the city for a while, pick them off one at a time. If the Raptors won, he could come out of hiding. He advanced upon the town. ---- Iur stumbled, trying to get away from the roaring flames. The Raptors had fired incendiary missles at the battlefield, killing nearly all life on the plain. Now, more were steadily coming through the rift, dousing the flames and killing all the surivors they could find. Iur ran towards a small aircraft, where several Zyrothans stood calling for him. Suddenly, a Raptor burst from the flames in front of him, and fired at him with a small device. He felt a burst of electricity jolt through his body, and passed into unconsciousness. He was vaguely aware of Raptors carrying him away towards the rift. Chapter 7 Angry at his leader's brash advance into the field, Agrin took command. "Bomb the **** out of them. Prepare a crossing party." An orbital weapon fired far above, and the Raptors still through were vapourised in a flash of light. "No more nice Zyrothans for you, ********s." Tanks pulled up in their hundreds. Jets filled the air. Spaceships swooped low over the battlefield. And they entered the Rift. Epilogue This was just the first of the many battles of the Raptor-Zyrothan War, or, the Rift War. In this particular battle, the Zyrothans were pushed back through the Rift, although they maintained control of the surrounding area on Yeseg. Over the next couple of years, several more battles were fought. Sometimes the Raptors would win, sometimes the Zyrothans. But the fact of the matter was, though many on both sides died, neither side was anywhere close to winning. Unfortunately, the commanders on both sides were too prideful to quit the war, and the war continued on for three more violent years. Category:Fiction Category:Serial Fiction